Brenda Fricker (1945-2026) is dead. The Irish actress has passed away at the age of 81, as British media report unanimously. With her performance in the 1989 film "My Left Foot", she made history. The following year, she became the first Irish woman in one of the acting categories to be awarded an Oscar for her role in the drama. Fricker received the Academy Award at the time as Best Supporting Actress, while her colleague Daniel Day-Lewis (69) received his first of now three Best Actor Oscars for "My Left Foot".
She Also Played the "Pigeon Lady" in the "Kevin" Sequel
To a wider audience, she was also known as the "Pigeon Lady" from "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York", the sequel to the comedy classic "Home Alone". In Great Britain, one of her biggest engagements was also the hospital series "Casualty", in which she appeared for many years. One of her earlier TV appearances was also in the long-running soap opera "Coronation Street", the model for the German "Lindenstraße". Fricker had additional roles in "Veronica Guerin" and "The Jury".
"We will never see her like again, and the world is poorer without her", declares Fricker's agent Phil Belfield in a statement, which is available to the BBC among others. The broadcaster further quotes: "It has been my honor to know her, to love her, and to work with her. She will always have a place in my heart, as well as in the hearts of so many film and TV fans around the world."
